Shadow of great britain

Arthur turned his head and saw Lionel and Mendelssohn standing behind him. He immediately picked up the white gloves placed next to the piano stand and greeted them with a smile.

"I never thought I'd be so lucky to see you here, Lionel."

Lionel joked: "Although I may not really care about art collection, I really appreciate music. Not to mention that this concert gathered so many top pianists, if this kind of I’ve been absent from all major events, so I’m afraid I won’t have the shame to declare that I love music.”

Having said this, Lionel introduced Arthur to Mendelssohn next to him: "This is Mr. Felix Mendelssohn, who is as young as you and has the same talent that ordinary people cannot match. You must have heard the overture he composed for Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," right?"

Arthur dared to go to the Coburg Theater to try out the piano today, so naturally he had already done a background check on the musicians who might be present.

But even if he didn't prepare, the name Mendelssohn was familiar enough to him.

The most perfect master of musical form since Mozart is well-known in Britain today and in later generations.

However, Lionel's relationship with him was so close, which was somewhat beyond Arthur's expectation. It can only be said that Rothschild's social scope was much wider than he expected.

Arthur extended his hand to Mendelssohn in a friendly manner, not only with the original intention of expressing goodwill, but also with a superstitious mentality of wanting to borrow some musical elements from the piano master.

However, Mendelssohn frowned and stared at Arthur's face, seemingly in a daze.

"Mr. Mendelsohn?"

It wasn't until Arthur reminded him loudly that Mendelssohn realized his rudeness. He quickly apologized: "I'm sorry, Mr. Hastings, I felt that your playing style seemed to have a familiar feeling from just now. But it’s hard to explain. You and Mr. Clementi also pursue difficult skills, but they are not exactly the same. I...I always feel that there is someone’s shadow in you..."

At this point, an idea flashed in Mendelssohn's mind, and he said in surprise: "Liszt! By the way, why is it so familiar? Your crazy energy is exactly the same as Liszt's style."

Arthur originally thought that he was just quietly listening to a piano piece. No one would have thought that this could be seen by an expert.

Fortunately, this song "The Bell" was originally Liszt's adaptation of Paganini. To be honest, both he and Liszt performed artistic processing on the basis of the original work.

If we insist on pursuing it, at least he was one year ahead of Liszt. Paganini's European concert tour will not visit Paris until next year.

Arthur said shamelessly: "I didn't expect you to have a relationship with Mr. Liszt. Although I have not heard Mr. Liszt play in person, I have heard that he came to London to play at the age of fourteen, and the result was a sensation across the country. The story of being received by the late King George IV.

Although my playing was so-so, it was still passable. But compared with you and Mr. Liszt, a music prodigy who performed on stage at the age of nine, I am still far behind. When I was nine years old, I didn’t even know what a piano was. "

When Mendelssohn heard this, he thought he had accidentally touched Arthur's poor childhood memories, and he quickly comforted him.

"Mr. Hastings, a genius is a genius, and it has nothing to do with the age at which he was introduced to the piano. Have you forgotten Mr. Clementi's experience? He did not learn piano until he was 14 years old under the sponsorship of Sir Beckford, and he did not study piano until he was 23 He had his first public performance at the age of 18, but this did not prevent him from becoming a great monument in the history of piano.

And you made your debut at the age of 20. I believe your future development will definitely be quite smooth. Being able to write a piece like "The Bell" and also be able to play it with such passion. Maybe we will really get a Paganini in the piano world. "

Lionel also spoke at the right time to change the atmosphere. He asked with a smile: "Everyone says that Paganini made a deal with the devil to have such a pair of nimble hands. Arthur, do you do the same?"

Arthur smiled and said: "Yes, at least this song "The Bell" is like this."

Everyone laughed when they heard this, and the red devil on the side also pushed up his glasses with a smirk: "Oh! My dear Arthur, look at these stupid humans! When you tell lies, they believe it. You say If it is true, they think it is false. Thousands of years have passed, and human beings are still like this. They only believe in what they believe."

Everyone chatted for a while, and soon, Mendelssohn, who felt itchy, suddenly stretched his arms and said: "We have played all morning today, and it's time to practice the piano. This is a good time to preview for tomorrow's performance."

Unexpectedly, before he could take the stage, he was stopped by Arthur from behind: "Mr. Mendelssohn, I think you'd better wait a moment. When I just tried the piano, there seemed to be something wrong with some of the intonations."

"Is there a problem?" Mendelssohn was doubtful: "But... when I just listened to you playing, everything seemed to be perfect. This piano was specially shipped from Mr. Clementi's piano, even if it was from there. If the guy is not careful, the theater staff shouldn’t be so careless either.”

When Arthur heard Mendelssohn's question, he just laughed: "You guys came late just now, and you are standing far away, so you may not hear clearly. But it's not a big deal. I have already informed the theater staff. Let’s change the piano. Counting the time, people should be here soon.”

As soon as Arthur finished speaking, he saw the curtain of the theater being lifted, and several staff members with red faces were gently moving a heavy piano from the backstage to the front hall.

As they moved, they couldn't help but cursed: "No, the piano shouldn't be this heavy usually, right?"

"Is there something stuffed in here?"

"Damn, this one feels almost twice as heavy as most pianos."

Behind the staff was an embarrassed Wheatstone, who apologized with embarrassment: "Thank you for your hard work, this piano is an improved version of our Wheatstone Musical Instrument Shop. It’s a little heavier.”

Arthur found out that Wheatstone was present and hurriedly said goodbye to Lionel and others. Then he walked up quickly and asked in a low voice to Wheatstone: "Are you sure you didn't bring the wrong piano? This is The one I used before, the piano that can be connected to a gramophone with a long pole to record songs?”

Wheatstone was sweating. After all, he was not like Arthur. This was really the first time for the honest Wheatstone to do such a thing.

"Arthur, isn't it good for us to do this?"

After hearing this, Arthur just lit his pipe and blew out the smoke: "If you feel bad, you can directly send the sales profits to the pianists who participated in the recording today after the record is released. In addition, don't think carefully about these people. They are all at the top of the British music scene, and those old-school musicians are usually very conservative. If you don't use this method, you probably won't be able to record their records in your lifetime."

Wheatstone wanted to say more, but before he could open his mouth, Arthur took out a document from the inner pocket of his tuxedo and threw it into his hand.

Whetstone looked down and felt dizzy with excitement.

There were only a few plain words written on the document - "Patent Grant Document of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland".

"Oh! My God! No, Mr. Hastings! No, it's Arthur, my dear friend Arthur! You have really solved my urgent need."

Arthur looked at Wheatstone who was so excited that he wanted to punch him twice, and just shook his head: "Everyone has a price, but Mr. Wheatstone, please don't show your price too much." Cheap. You claim to be socially afraid, but if you continue to be like this, I'm going to start to be afraid of you."

Whetstone grinned and rubbed his stomach to calm down: "Yes, Arthur, you are right. I should behave decently, but I am too happy about this. What on earth did you do?" Finished it in a week?"

"How was it done?" Arthur patted the piano beside him: "It was done in a not so good way like this. So, do you still have any objections to burning records?"

"this……"

Wheatstone struggled for a long time, but when Arthur put his hand on the patent document, he was shocked as if he was electrocuted: "No objection, I have no objection at all. And I will do as you said, They are paid their profit share on time after the record is published.”

When Arthur heard this, he couldn't help but smile. He leaned against the piano and crossed his arms: "Mocheles, Mendelssohn, Porter, etc., these top pianists in Britain should all be here this afternoon and evening. Soundcheck. How much do you think so many records from top players are worth?"

"Well……"

Whetstone frowned slightly and thought about it for a long time. Just when he was about to give a specific number, Arthur suddenly spoke again.

"This concert gathers so many celebrities and musicians, it is almost inevitable that it will cause a sensation. If you release a collection of musicians' performances at this stage, how much income will it bring to you?"

When Wheatstone heard this, his breathing almost stopped. He seemed to see God opening his trouser pocket and stuffing money into it.

Arthur spoke again: "With so many people buying records, they have to buy a machine that can play it, right? And currently you are the only workshop in London that can make gramophones. If other companies want to imitate it, it's not a coincidence. It’s you who happened to get the patent document again…”

When Wheatstone heard this, he gasped rapidly. He reached out to interrupt Arthur's speech and said, "Arthur, you are a close friend of mine. If you need any help from me, just tell me."

Arthur smiled slightly and said: "Actually, it's not a big deal. I just think that the gramophone is good and should be enough for ordinary leisure and entertainment, but for some more secretive and special work, the phonograph not only has poor sound pickup effect, but also has such a large size. It's too eye-catching.

So, I have a relatively preliminary idea. I wonder if you are interested in participating? By the way, out of our friendship, I can give you a little bit of information, that is, this project comes from some government organization that is difficult to name. "

Whetstone's eyes lit up when he heard this.

The project came from a government organization. This statement alone had a fatal appeal to Wheatstone, who was a businessman.

Because this often represents a stable large-volume purchase scale and guaranteed payment delivery. Even if the project can attract enough attention, a large amount of scientific research funds can be obtained. Babbage's Difference Engine, which cost more than 10,000 pounds, is a typical case.

With the support of the British pound, in Wheatstone's eyes, even Arthur, who had always been disgusting to him, immediately became handsome.

Wheatstone suppressed his ecstasy and asked in a low voice: "May I be lucky enough to know... no, am I lucky enough to be able to participate in this project?"

Seeing that he had been dazzled by money, Arthur boldly proposed the research project that LPS wanted to launch, which actually did not have a penny of office funds.

"Mr. Wheatstone, you have done a lot of research on acoustics. Now we have figured out that the principle of sound is vibration. Then maybe we should consider connecting this with electromagnetism. I heard that you recently I often go to Mr. Faraday to discuss electromagnetic issues, is this the case?"

Wheatstone nodded and said: "Mr. Faraday treated me very well. With his help, I got a foothold in electromagnetism."

Arthur smiled and said: "That's easy. Now that you have entered the door, you must know Mr. Faraday's electromagnetic induction experiment that shocked everyone this year, right?"

"Of course. The electromagnetic induction experiment proved that electricity and magnetism can be converted into each other. This is the most important scientific discovery this year. But..."

Wheatstone scratched his head: "But what does this have to do with acoustics?"

Arthur said: "As we all know, if you wind a copper wire around an ordinary sewing needle, and the copper wire is energized, the needle will become a magnetic needle. Then, if a steel wire is slowly passed through, the current will change. What interesting changes will happen to the coil?"

When Wheatstone heard this, the hairs on his body stood up: "If you do this, as the intensity of the current changes, several small magnets with different strengths will be formed on this steel wire. If we can make this By linking this change with the vibration changes of the sound, the storage of the sound can be achieved."

Arthur smiled and nodded: "Fortunately, electric current is much more sensitive than a mechanized gramophone. Therefore, it must be very suitable for recording people's voices."

Wheatstone took a deep breath: "Arthur..."

"What's wrong?"

Wheatstone swallowed hard and said: "How did you come up with these things? If you can come up with such a genius idea, you can do it alone! If you have this, the gramophone will probably be destroyed. There is no way to fight back.”

Arthur gently shook his finger: "No, Mr. Wheatstone, I don't have as good skills as you, nor do I have the thinking of a serious engineer. All I have are worthless ideas.

And the most important thing is that this technology cannot be used for profit. It must be controlled within a certain range to exert its maximum power. Therefore, you can rest assured that the gramophone market will not be affected.

After all, even from a cost perspective, just because it does not require electricity, the winding mechanical phonograph is already more suitable for this era than the thing I mentioned. "

At this point, Arthur paused suddenly. He looked at Wheatstone with a smile: "So, when do you think I can get the sample?"

Wheatstone took a deep breath, patted his chest and assured: "Although this thing sounds quite difficult, at least the direction is clear. I have no obstacles in terms of acoustics and manual production. As for electromagnetism, The best I can do is make a few more trips to the Royal Society to find Mr. Faraday. As long as the principle is smooth, production will only take a month at most and two or three weeks at least."

"Two or three weeks?"

Arthur couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when he heard this. It seemed that even if Wheatstone was asked to work overtime, he did have his limit. At least during the London meeting, he couldn't hope to do anything through the tape recorder.

Wheatstone didn't see Arthur's disappointment. He said happily: "Arthur, go back and ask the department that must not be named to prepare the money. Sooner or later, I will be able to put this kind of directional thing into use." Get it out.”

When Arthur heard this, he just pursed his lips with a subtle expression. He nodded and said, "Okay, I will definitely do it next time."